Water-closet ventilating fan



Dec, 26, 1967 c. J. STATTER 3,359,884

WATER-CLOSET VENTILATING PA N Filed May 6. 1966 United States Patent 167 Claims. (Cl. 98-43) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A flushing cisternmounted with respect to a support wall by a support frame fixed to thewall and having cantilevers supporting the cistern spaced from thesupport Wall. In a passage in the support wall, is a ventilator fandriven by a hydraulic motor located in the cistern to be driven by waterissuing from an adjacent inlet nozzle. Operatively interconnecting thehydraulic motor and ventilating fan is a drive shaft housed in a tubefixed with respect to the back wall of the cistern by a flange overlyingthe inner wall surface of the cistern and a cooperating nut engaged onexternal threads on the tube and against the outer wall surface of thecistern. A casing for the hydraulic motor is secured against the cisternwall by the flange.

This invention relates to ventilators for water closets of the kindcomprising a fan and hydraulic motor wherein the motor is driven by thewater flowing into the closet cistern to refill the cistern after aflushing operation.

Hitherto, the ventilator fan and its hydraulic motor have been mountedas a unit" on the wall of the water closet or in some other suitableposition and the motor has been pipe connected to the flushing cisternin such a way that water issuing from the cisterns normal inlet valve isfed to the motor and then exhausted from the motor into the cisternreservoir.

' Although ventilators of the kind referred to above have beensatisfactory in operation, they have not found as to supply water to andfrom the motor.

A further dis'advantage'is that external piping is unsightly and thereis always the risk of water leakage from faulty joints and the like. i

It has been proposed hitherto to overcome the above disadvantages byinstalling both the fan and the motor. inside the cistern; but, in suchcases, the efliciency of the ventilator, even though it draws'airdirectly from the toilet bowl, is greatly reduced because of thenecessarily small air passagewayswhich then have to be employed.

With the foregoing in mind, the present invention was devised to providewater closet ventilators having a ventilating fan outside the cisternbut which does not call for additional plumbing work for theinstallation of the cistern.

That object is achieved by providing a water closest ventilator whereinthe hydraulic motor is within the cisterns reservoir and is driveconnected to a fan disposed outside the cistern.

According to preferred embodiments of the invention a wall mounted fancasing is provided which is adapted not only to define an air passagewayfor the fan but also to support the cistern in a position permittingready connection of the fan to the hydraulic motor within the cistern.Thus, having installed the fan casing, the work of installing thecistern is the same as, or even less than, that normally required.

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By way of example, an embodiment of the invention is describedhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a water closest cistern with part ofits front wall cut away to reveal the hydraulic motor of a ventilatoraccording to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partly sectioned side elevation of the ventilator andcistern of FIGURE 1.

The illustrated ventilator comprises an axial flow fan 1 disposed withina cylindrical fan casing 2, a turbine type hydraulic motor 3 disposedwithin a water closet cistern 4 and drive transmission means 6connecting the motor 3 to the fan 1.

The fan, which may be a circular sheet metal disc 7 with radiallydirected slits extending from the periphery of the disc part-way towardsthe centre and with the metal between each pair of said slits twistedout of the plane of the disc 7 to constitute fan blades 8, and amounting boss 9 secured to the centre of the disc 7. l

The fan casing 2 is secured to, or is part of, a supporting frame 10comprising a back plate 11 adaptedto be secured to a water closet 12,stiffening edge flanges 13 and cistern supporting cantilevers 14projecting from the back plate 11. The fan casing 2 is preferablyprovided with 2 sheet metal or other semi-circular weather flaps 15 thatswing upon wire spindles 16 (of which there is one for each flap 15).The spindles 16 are inclined so that the flaps 15 tend to swing underthe influence of gravity to a position in which they close the airpassageway defined by the casing 2. On the other hand, the flaps 15 mayswing to an open position when the fan 1 is operating due to the effectof the air flow induced by the fan.

The drive transmission means 6 comprises a drive shaft 17 able to rotatein plastics or other bearing bushes 18 within an externally threadedsupporting tube 19 secured to the back wall of the cistern 4 by means ofan end flange 20 on one side of the wall and a clamping nut 21 on theother.

The motor 3 preferably comprises an open bottomed, sheet-metal turbinecasing 30 clamped in place by the flange 20 and a Pelton wheel typeturbine rotor mounted on one end of the shaft 17. The rotor comprises acentral sheet metal disc 22 and a plurality of buckets 23.

The rotor is disposed so that a jet of water issuing from a nozzle 24extending from an otherwise conventional float operated cistern inletvalve 25 impinges on the buckets 23 to cause the rotor, and thereforethe fan 1, to spin whenever the cistern 4 is being filled with water.

For preference, the supporting frame 10 includes spacer blocks 26 so asto leave a substantial air gap between the back. wall of the cistern 4and the inner face of the wall 12 to allow an unimpeded flow of room airto the fan 1 for exhaust thereby. Air may also flow directly into thecasing through an opening 27 above the cistern 4, which opening ispreferably covered by means of an ornamental woven wire or expandedmetal grille 28 or the like.

It will be seen that the above described and illustrated embodiment ofthe invention provides a very simple and readily installed water closetventilator which makes use only of water which is subsequently to beused for flushing purposes.

According to other examples of the invention, the fan may be mountedmore remotely from the cistern than is illustrated, in which event, thedrive connection between the hydraulic motor and the fan may be, bymeans of gear trains, drive shafts, endless chains or belts riding uponsprockets or pulleys, a so-called flexible drive shaft of the kindhaving a pliable core rotating within a pliable tubular sheath or otherconventional mechanical drive transmission devices.

The above-described and illustrated embodiment of the invention requiresvery little modification of a conventional cistern namely only theprovision of a single hole in the back wall through which the supportingtube 19 may extend but according to other examples of the invention,modified cisterns are used to provide air passageways extending from thefan to the room to be ventilated. For example, the back wall of thecistern may have an open ended recess or trough extending from top tobottom or from side to side within which the fan may be disposed.According to another embodiment, a modified cistern is provided with alarge tubular passageway extending from front to back through the waterspace and the fan may be mounted within that passageway, thuseliminating the need for a separate fan casing.

In some cases a main cistern may be used for the supply of water to aplurality of water closets and a single motor in said main cistern maythen be drive-connected to a plurality of fans.

It will also be appreciated that the fan is not necessarily an axialflow fan and may be a centrifugal fan or indeed any mechanically drivenventilating device adapted to extract air from a room.

In short, the present invention extends to any hydraulilator assemblycomprising in combination, a hydraulic motor disposed within the cisternin close proximity to I the outlet of the inlet nozzle to be driven bywater issuing from the inlet nozzle after a flushing operation, anexhaust fan disposed outside the cistern, a drive transmission meansextending from said hydraulic motor to said exhaust fan to drive the fanduring refilling of the cistern,

said hydraulic motor including a rotor, said cistern having a wallincluding an aperture extending through the wall, said drivetransmission means including a shaft extending through said aperture insaid cistern wall and having one end connected to said rotor and anotherend connected to said fan, said hydraulic motor further including acasing having an aperture therein located about the aperture in thecistern wall, said drive transmission means further including a supporttube extending through said aperture in said cistern wall with thesupport tube receiving said shaft, a flange means projecting from saidtube internally of said hydraulic motor casing and engaging thehydraulic motor casing to maintain the hydraulic motor casing againstthe wall of the cistern, said support tube having external peripheralthreads, and a locking nut threadedly engaged on the threads on thesupport tube and secured in engagement with the outside surface of thecistern wall to act together with said flange means to secure the tubeand shaft in position.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 further including a support wallspaced from said cistern wall and having an exhaust opening receivingthe exhaust fan, a support frame fixed to the support wall and locatedbetween the support wall and the cistern, cantilever means projectingfrom the frame below the cistern to support the cistern.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 further including spacer meanslocated between the support frame and said cistern wall to space thecistern from the support frame a predetermined distance.

4. The combination defined in claim 3 wherein said support frame is aflat plate including stiffening flanges projecting from the oppositeside edges thereof.

5. In combination with a water closet including a flushing cistern and awater inlet nozzle located in the cistern for refilling the cisternafter flushing; a water closet ventilator assembly comprising incombination, a hydraulic m0- tor disposed within the cistern in closeproximity to the outlet of the inlet nozzle to be driven by waterissuing from the inlet nozzle after a flushing operation, an exhaust fandisposed outside the cistern, a drive transmission means extending fromsaid hydraulic motor to said exhaust fan to drive the fan duringrefilling of the cistern, a support wall having an exhaust openingreceiving the exhaust fan, a support frame fixed to said support wallbetween the cistern and the support wall, said support frame havingcantilever means projecting therefrom under said cistern to support saidcistern, and spacer means spacing said cistern and said support frame toallow multi-directional air flow around, over the cistern and into theexhaust opening in the support wall for ventilation.

6. In combination with a water closet including a flushing cistern and awater inlet nozzle located in the cistern for refilling the cisternafter flushing; a water closet ventilator assembly comprising incombination, a hydraulic motor disposed within the cistern in closeproximity to the outlet of the inlet nozzle to be driven by waterissuing from the inlet nozzle after a flushing operation, an exhaust fandisposed outside the cistern, drive transmission means extending fromsaid hydraulic motor to said exhaust fan to drive the fan duringrefilling of the cistern, a support wall having an exhaust openingreceiving said exhaust fan, a support frame fixed to said support walland having means supporting said cistern, said cistern having a backwall including an opening, said drive transmission means including asupport tube extending through said opening in said back wall of thecistern, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in said support tube and havingone end operatively connected to the hydraulic motor and an opposite endoperatively connected to said exhaust fan to drive the fan in responseto movement of said hydraulic motor.

7. The combination defined in claim '6 further including spacer meanspositioned between said back wall of the cistern and said support framefor spacing the cistern from the support frame to providemultidirectional air flow around, over and under the cistern andultimately into the exhaust opening of the support wall for ventilation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1878 Selvey 230 11e 4/1963Huso.

' MEYER PERLIN, Primary Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A WATER CLOSET INCLUDING A FLUSHING CISTERN AND AWATER INLET NOZZLE LOCATED IN THE CISTERN FOR REFILLING THE CISTERNAFTER FLUSHING; A WATER CLOSET VENTILATOR ASSEMBLY COMPRISING INCOMBINATION, A HYDRAULIC MOTOR DISPOSED WITHIN THE CISTERN IN CLOSEPROXIMITY TO THE OUTLET OF THE INLET NOZZLE TO BE DRIVEN BY WATERISSUING FROM THE INLET NOZZLE AFTER A FLUSHING OPERATION, AN EXHAUST FANDISPOSED OUTSIDE THE CISTERN, A DRIVE TRANSMISSION MEANS EXTENDING FROMSAID HYDRAULIC MOTOR TO SAID EXHAUST FAN TO DRIVE THE FAN DURINGREFILLING OF THE CISTERN, SAID HYDRAULIC MOTOR INCLUDING A ROTOR, SAIDCISTERN HAVING A WALL INCLUDING AN APERTURE EXTENDING THROUGH THE WALL,SAID DRIVE TRANSMISSION MEANS INCLUDING A SHAFT EXTENDING THROUGH SAIDAPERTURE IN SAID CISTERN WALL AND HAVING ONE END CONNECTED TO SAID ROTORAND ANOTHER END CONNECTED TO SAID FAN, SAID HYDRAULIC MOTOR FURTHERINCLUDING A CASING HAVING AN APERTURE THEREIN LOCATED ABOUT THE APERTUREIN THE CISTERN WALL, SAID DRIVE TRANSMISSION MEANS FURTHER INCLUDING ASUPPORT TUBE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID APERTURE IN